Tag Archives: Visit Germany

CroisiEurope’s Elbe Princesse Rivercruise: Berlin, a Cultural Capital Again

The Brandenburg Gate, built in 1791, “survived 300 years, 2 world wars, 2 dictatorships, 1 wall” and restored to its glory © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com

By Karen Rubin, Travel Features Syndicate, goingplacesfarandnear.com

Berlin is a surprise. The last time I was here, which was just after the fall of the Wall, it seemed dark, grey. Berliners were literally chipping away at the Berlin Wall, selling the graffitied pieces (the first act of Capitalism).

Berlin 1990. The first act of capitalism is selling the pieces of the Berlin Wall after the fall. © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com
 
Our guide, Sylvia, shows the “then and now” at the Brandenburg Gate in Berlin © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com

Now, I find the city bright, bustling and building. And an interesting amalgam of how Germany’s various historical époques, even the Soviet era, have been integrated in the reconstructed city after World War II.

What is most interesting to me, especially as we stop at the Brandenburg Gate, is how Nazism seems to have been ripped out from the roots, like weeds from a garden.

There is still some evidence of Soviet control, especially as we go through what would have been East Berlin (later, at Potsdam, we will learn the backstory of how Berlin was divided).

Reminder of a Berlin divided into sectors by the World War II victors © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com
 
Soviet era art on a building in Berlin © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com

The Elbe Princesse is docked in a lovely neighborhood park in one of the city’s 12 districts. We have a bus-tour today, which I am grateful for because the city is really vast and I only have one day here, but it is soon obvious, you need to spend at least two or three days.

Our guide, Sylvia, gives us a bit of history as we travel from district to district, neighborhood to neighborhood.

Apartment buildings built for workers before World War II © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com
 

We drive around the Victory Column – Hitler had it moved in the 1930s as part of his plan to make Berlin the capital of the World, Germania. To cement his dictatorship, the Nazis set fire to the Reichstag, and blamed the opposition as an excuse to exert martial law.

We get out to walk around, stopping first at the new memorial to the Sinti and Roma murdered in the Holocaust. Out of 2.5 million Sinti & Roma, only 5000 survived (the German word for gypsy, Zigeuner, means trash and is forbidden).

The new Holocaust memorial to Sinti and Roma across from the Reischtag in Berlin © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com
 

Very close to the Brandenburg Gate is the Reichstag – the Parliament Building. People are lined up to tour the building, and can go up to a modernized glass dome.

The Reischtag in Berlin © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com
Visitors can ascend to the modern dome of the Reischtag for a great view © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com

The Brandenburg Gate, which dates from 1791, was part of the original wall around Old Town, and is the only one of 18 historical gates still remaining. “It survived 300 years, 2 world wars, 2 dictatorships, 1 wall.”

In 1806, Napoleon arrived in Berlin after defeating Prussians, entering through center of gate. He promptly “expropriated” the sculpture on top of the gate.

The Brandenburg Gate, built in 1791, “survived 300 years, 2 world wars, 2 dictatorships, 1 wall” and restored to its glory © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com

For 20 years, the Gate was in a no-man’s land between East and West Berlin, and could not be visited. Then, in November 1989, the wall came down.

All the buildings that flank the Gate were built after 1989, Today, the US Embassy and across from the embassy, a Holocaust memorial that opened in May 2005, 60 years after the end of World War II in Europe.

New York architect Peter Eisenman, who won a design competition to establish a central memorial site, the Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe, placed 2,711 concrete slabs of different heights that appear as graves or coffins (the heights, Sylvia said, are supposed to represent the number of Jews killed in a place). The 19,000 sq. meter area is open day and night. The memorial is intentionally set on a slight slope and its wave-like form is different wherever you stand.

Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe by Peter Eisenman, is across from the US Embassy in Berlin © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com

The memorial to the Shoah is supplemented by the underground information center, also designed by Eisenman. In a space covering 800 square meters you can find information on the victims and the locations. Themed rooms such as the Room of Dimensions, the Room of Families, the Room of Names and the Room of Sites deal with the fates of individuals, with photographs, diaries and farewell letters. Short biographies take the victims out of their anonymity. Historical photographs and film footage show the sites of persecution and extermination. (Cora-Berliner-Straße 110117 Berlin, www.stiftung-denkmal.de/en)

In the Museum Island complex we see where there are still holes from bullets and artillery fire in the Roman columns are the city’s most important museums (which were in the Soviet zone, so that the Allies had to build comparable museums): the Altes Museum (Old Museum), the Neues Museum (New Museum) the Bode Museum, the Pergamon Museum and the Alte Nationalgalerie (Old National Gallery). The collections in these buildings encompass over 6,000 years of art and cultural history.

Museum Island was in the East German sector of Berlin controlled by the Soviet Union, so comparable cultural institutions had to be built in the West German sector © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com

Sylvia tells us that because all the city’s important museums wound up in the Soviet zone, the Allies built comparable institutions in their quarter.

We pass the magnificent Berlin Cathedral, which dates back to the 15th century,.

Berlin’s stunning architecture © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com

As we pass the Royal Library, Sylvia relates that on May 10 1933, Nazis entered Royal Library, stripped the shelves, and burned the books in the square. “It’s important to keep people stupid to impose dictatorship,” she remarks. I mutter something about a Tennessee legislator who, when asked what they should do about banned books, said, “They should burn them, I guess,” to which one of my traveling companions from Munich recoiled in horror. (Max Planck and Albert Einstein gave lectures here, Sylvia notes.)

The square outside the Royal Library was where Nazis burned books on May 10 1933 © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com

We go by Alexanderplatz, which was a market in the Middle Ages. (I spot “Stop Wars” as graffiti painted on a nearby building. There are also Ukraine flags on many buildings.)

“Stop Wars”. © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com

We drive down an avenue that leads toward Frankfurt and the border with Poland. After WWII, Stalin renamed it for himself, but when Stalin died, it was renamed Karl Marx Allee (a German Jew and the ideological founder of Socialism).

Coca-Cola on a building along the boulevard named for Karl Marx © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com

The mark of East Germany’s time as part of the Soviet bloc is very clear when we arrive at a long, long wall – Sylvia said that the “first generation wall” was built in less than 24 hours. “Germans went to sleep on the night of August 12 and woke up on August 13 to find a 43 km wall built in middle of night, to separate east from west.”

Graffiti art on the Berlin Wall, 1990 © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com

Soon after the fall of the Berlin Wall and reunification of East and West Germany, 118 artists from 21 countries were invited to paint murals along a 1316-meter long stretch of the wall – the longest continuous section of the Berlin Wall still in existence. It officially opened as the open-air East Side Gallery on September 28, 1990, and a year later, was made a protected memorial.

The famous “Kiss” mural on the East Side Gallery, a 1316-meter long stretch of the former Berlin Wall © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com

Sylvia points us to the mural that is very possibly the most famous: “The Kiss” by Russian painter Dimitri Vrubel in 1990, It depicts Leonid Brezhnev, the General Secretary of the Soviet Union at the time, and Erich Honecker, the General Secretary of the Socialist Unity Party of the GDR, based on a photograph taken in 1979, on the 30th anniversary of the founding of the GDR. “The photographer got two years in prison.”  

Possibly the most famous of the East Side Gallery murals is “The Kiss” by Russian painter Dimitri Vrubel, depicting Leonid Brezhnev, the Soviet General Secretary and Erich Honecker, the General Secretary of the GDR Socialist Unity Party, based on a 1979 photo © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com
118 artists from 21 countries were invited to paint murals along a 1316-meter long stretch of the wall, now enshrined as the East Side Gallery © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com
Andre Sacharov is memorialized in one of the East Side Gallery murals © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com
The 1316-meter long stretch of the wall – the longest continuous section of the Berlin Wall still in existence – officially opened as the open-air East Side Gallery on September 28, 1990 © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com

Sylvia also points out Berlin’s pride and joy, the Berlin Television Tower, built in the 1960s. At 368m, it is the tallest building in Berlin. (You can go to the top for a 360° panoramic view of the city.) 

Berlin’s pride and joy, the Berlin Television Tower, built in the 1960s © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com

Potsdam, UNESCO World Heritage City

We are returned to the Princesse Elbe for lunch and then set out again by bus to Potsdam – famous as the place where the Allies decided Germany’s fate, split Europe, Germany and Berlin into sections, and launched the Cold War.

Potsdam, about a 45 minute drive from where we are in Berlin, is one of Germany’s most beautiful cities, and a UNESCO Heritage site.

The Glienicke Bridge, known as the “Bridge of Spies,” in Potsdam © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com

We stop at Glienicke Bridge, known as the “Bridge of Spies”. Built in 1907, it was used as an exchange point between the Soviets and the Allies. In 1961, during the Cold War, no civilians were allowed on the bridge, only military, diplomats. To distinguish between the American and German Democratic Republic sides, you can see the dark green versus light green colors. The first exchange came in 1962: Francis Powers, who was taken prisoner in 1960 when his U-2 spy plane was shot down over Ukraine and sentenced to die, was exchanged for Soviet Colonel Rudolf Abel, a senior KGB spy. (The 2015 Tom Hanks thriller, “Bridge of Spies” depicting the events was actually shot here – they closed the bridge for a week).

Different shades of green demarcated the Soviet from the American sides of the Glienicke Bridge © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com

We stop at Cecilienhof Palace, where the Potsdam Conference took place in 1945, and are able to walk around the grounds. The palace was built in 1917 by Crown Prince Wilhelm, grandson of Queen Victoria, who would have been next emperor if Germany had won World War I. It hardly looks like a palace – he built it in Tudor style of a country manor to honor his grandmother. Today it is a hotel and museum.

Cecilienhof Palace, where the Potsdam Conference took place in 1945 and the Cold War began © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com

What I hadn’t known before is that Harry Truman, who had just become president after Franklin D. Roosevelt’s death, got a phone call while here, ‘The baby is born,” code for the atom bomb was ready. He gave the order from here to bomb Hiroshima, seemingly as casually as that.

The Potsdam conference also lacked another major leader, Winston Churchill. In his place, a new Prime Minister. Clement Attlee. Stalin took advantage of them both.

Sylvia relates the back-story of how Stalin snuckered Truman and Atlee: on the last morning, Stalin drew a line in red pen through Germany and basically, said, “That’s mine.” “Potsdam set up the Cold War, a proxy war,” she says.

We next go to Sanssouci, Frederick II (Frederick the Great)’s fabulous palace. (We wander the outside, but do not have time to go into it).

Sanssouci Palace is like a mini-Versailles © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com

Sanssouci Palace is like a mini-Versailles, with stunning formal gardens. The gardens were Frederick’s passion, and he built them even before the palace. It was the first royal park ever to be open to the public, and for free. (Versailles Palace was built first then garden, but was solely for royal use.)

Sanssouci Palace is like a mini-Versailles © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com

Frederick loved this place – it was his private refuge and he even banned his wife from visiting. He wanted to be buried at Sanssouci and had a crypt built, but his nephew buried him elsewhere; then, 200 years later, Frederick was reburied here, as he wanted, with his 11 dogs. We notice that people leave potatoes at the gravesite. “The Seven Years War was under his administration.  Potato, brought from the Indian countries of America, was a fast solution to hunger.”

Sanssouci Palace is like a mini-Versailles © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com

Potsdam, a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1990, became the residence for Prussia’ royal family, spawning many fabulous buildings and palaces, making Potsdam one of the most-visited cities in Germany and deserves a full day visit (you can get to Potsdam by train from Berlin).

CroisiEurope’s MS Elbe Princesse, docked in Berlin, our last port on the Prague-Berlin rivercruise © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com

Our tours of Berlin and Potsdam have been a very good introduction, but I would have liked to spend another two days in Berlin and a full day in Potsdam. But I am doing what many American travelers to Europe are doing this year and doubling up on trips from my bucket list. So the next morning, I get myself to the Berlin railway station, heading to Bruges. for my BoatBikeTours bike trip from Bruges to Amsterdam by bike and boat!

Berlin’s central train station © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com
Departing Berlin, enroute to Bruges, Belgium © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com

CroisiEurope, 800-768-7232, [email protected], www.CroisiEuropeRiverCruises.com

See also:

CroisiEurope Brings True Value, Quality to River Cruising Across the Globe

CroisiEurope’s Elbe Princess Prague-Berlin Rivercruise: Konigstein Fortress: Dramatic and Impregnable

CroisiEurope’s Elbe Princess Prague-Berlin Rivercruise: Dresden Rises Like a Phoenix; Meissen Preserves World Famous Brand

River Cruising on CroisiEurope’s Elbe Princesse, Prague-Berlin: Martin Luther, The Reformation and Wittenberg

CroisiEurope’s Elbe Princesse Prague-Berlin Rivercruise: Magdeburg, Long History, Surprising Heritage

CroisiEurope’s Elbe Princesse Rivercruise: Berlin, a Cultural Capital Again

__________________

© 2022 Travel Features Syndicate, a division of Workstyles, Inc. All rights reserved. Visit goingplacesfarandnear.com, www.huffingtonpost.com/author/karen-rubin, and travelwritersmagazine.com/TravelFeaturesSyndicate/. Blogging at goingplacesnearandfar.wordpress.com and moralcompasstravel.info. Visit instagram.com/going_places_far_and_near and instagram.com/bigbackpacktraveler/ Send comments or questions to [email protected]. Tweet @TravelFeatures. ‘Like’ us at facebook.com/NewsPhotoFeatures

CroisiEurope’s Elbe Princesse Prague-Berlin Rivercruise: Magdeburg, Long History, Surprising Heritage

The Green Citadel, Magdeburg © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com

By Karen Rubin, Travel Features Syndicate, goingplacesfarandnear.com

I must confess to never having heard of Magdeburg before we were bussed from our ship, the MS Elbe Princesse, on the morning of Day 7 of our CroisiEurope river cruise, but, as in the case with the best travel experiences, it turns out to be marvelous to discover.

Market Square, Magdeburg, with one of the oldest equestrian statues in Europe © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com

Our tour starts in the Market Square, renowned for its architecture and a City Hall with bronze doors that relate the city’s history – its 1,200 years is one of the longest in Germany – in 14 panels. Our guide also points out the golden “Magdeburg Horseman,” which dates from 1240 and is believed to be the first equestrian statue north of the Alps.

Market Square, Magdeburg, with one of the oldest equestrian statues in Europe © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com

After visiting so many churches, the St. Mauritius and St. Katherine Cathedral is an absolute surprise – and not because of lavish gilded decoration (it is relatively simple) but more because of what it contains. Built from 1209-1520, it was the first cathedral to be built in the Gothic style in Germany, it is the largest church in East Germany, and its towers the highest. It was destroyed twice – in 1631 during the Thirty Years War, and in World War II, when 90 percent of Magdeburg’s buildings were bombed. And oh, yes, the church for some reason was used as a horse stable by the French during Napoleonic War.

St. Mauritius and St. Katherine Cathedral, Magdeburg, Europe’s oldest Gothic church, dates from 1209 © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com

We see where Germany’s famous son and Holy Roman Emperor, Otto the Great, and that of his first wife are interred inside the cathedral.

But what is immediately clear is the revolutionary spirit at the heart of this place – and Magdeburg.

Here we see a wooden chest with locks that was used to collect Indulgences – a symbol of its transition to a Protestant church. Indeed Magdeburg’s wholesale conversion to the Protestant faith was one of Luther’s greatest victories. (It is more impressive having just come from Luther’s House in Wittenberg the day before.)

A chest to hold indulgences at St. Mauritius and St. Katherine Cathedral, Magdeburg © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com

A memorial in front of nearby St. John’s Church (which can be visited) erected by the renowned sculptor Emil Hundrieser in 1886 serves as a reminder of Luther’s influence on this historic city. Martin Luther attended boarding school here for a year when he was 13; he returned to the city on June 26, 1524 to give a sermon at St. John’s Church about “true and false righteousness” that was so powerful, it  inspired almost every church in Magdeburg to convert to Protestantism in a matter of days. From this point onward, Magdeburg became a leader in the Reformation and a forerunner in school reform. Our guide tells us suggests that Magdeburg was fairly liberal and its law was adopted in other places.

Statue of St. Morris, a black saint from Namibia, at St. Mauritius and St. Katherine Cathedral, Magdeburg © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com

This cathedral is adorned with gorgeous sculptures and wood carvings that strike me as unusual. For one, I notice the statue of St. Morris, a black saint from Namibia who was officer in Roman army, became Christian and refused to take part in pagan ceremony.

Figures decorate a door at St. Mauritius and St. Katherine Cathedral, Magdeburg © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com

To my eye, the Church is ecumenical – it has Hebrew and Greek letters, doors from Greece that seem to depict Dionysus, and I see a fund-raising brochure from the congregation to help raise money to replace the synagogue destroyed by the Nazis (the cornerstone has just been laid). Our guide informs us there were 3000 Jews here before the Holocaust; today there are 600.) And in the pavement is a memorial to the Holocaust.

Holocaust Memorial outside St. Mauritius and St. Katherine Cathedral, Magdeburg © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com

We see a beautiful World War I memorial, which dates from1929. When the Nazis came, they had to take it away. The statue was returned to artist’s family and then returned to church 1955.

We also visit the Unser Lieben Frauen monastery which has a sculpture park that was created in 1989, and is the venue for concerts. The monastery, the oldest building in Magdeburg, was constructed in two phases – the east section and nave were built in the second half of the 11th century; the western section between 1129 and 1160.

Unser Lieben Frauen monastery, Magdeburg © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com

But most remarkable to me is the Green Citadel of Magdeburg, an apartment building that is literally a work of art and (amazingly) also a model for new urban design.

I can’t take my eyes off of it. We wander around this fascinating and magnificent structure, so colorful, whimsical. It exudes happiness and optimism, a Dr. Seuss-like quality and playful spirit. It is literally green – greenery grows from the roof, down the walls – none of which have straight angles. It is an “ensemble’ of buildings taking up a full square block, and is in such stark contrast to the other buildings in the vicinity, which range from Gothic to steel-and-glass modern.

The Green Citadel, Magdeburg © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com

The Green Citadel was designed by architect and artist, Friedensreich Hundertwasser (born Friedrich Stowasser in Vienna , he adopted Friedensreich, meaning peace, freedom, and Hundertwasser, meaning “100 Waters”), who died in 2000.

The Green Citadel, Magdeburg © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com

The Catholic Church underwrote the cost of building the building (27.1 million Euros) and it is now owned by a Swiss investor. It contains 55 rental apartments (the rental fee is based on the square meter, 10-12E/sq meter, which is cheap), a 200-seat theater, parking garage, day care center, and  a 41-room Art Hotel (that’s what it’s called).

The Green Citadel, Magdeburg © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com

You walk into this breathtakingly beautiful courtyard and there are bird houses of all different shapes and colors (a Guinness record? Not sure). Within the courtyard are cafes and delightful shops (I can’t resist). The tower is 32 meters high, constructed as a spiral – a symbol of life – with a walkway all the way up to the top.

The Green Citadel, Magdeburg © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com

The structure exemplifies Hundertwasser’s ”commitment to a more human architecture in harmony with nature and his visionary ecological commitment developed from his belief in the power of nature and individual creativity,” the The Hundertwasser  foundation writes. “Since the 1980s, he has been realizing architectural projects in which there is the window right and tree tenants, the uneven floor, forests on the roof and spontaneous vegetation. His buildings testify to his commitment to diversity instead of monotony, for romanticism, for the organic and for unregulated irregularities, for spontaneous vegetation and for living in harmony with nature.

The Green Citadel exemplified Hundertwasser’s commitment “to a more human architecture in harmony with nature and his visionary ecological commitment developed from his belief in the power of nature and individual creativity.” © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com

“At the center of his ecological activities were tree planting and greening campaigns, the restoration of natural cycles, the protection of water and the fight for a waste-free society. He disseminated his socio-critical and ecological positions with manifestos, letters, speeches and public demonstrations in which he criticized the pure functionality of all areas of life, the uninhibited growth doctrine and the adaptation to social conformism.”  (https://hundertwasser.com/en).

It’s interesting to learn that key industries here include the manufacture of wind turbines and small generators. Just saying.

The Green Citadel, Magdeburg. Artist and architect Hundertwasser used the Tower as a symbol of life. © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com

Magdeburg was a fortress town and one of its favorite sons, memorialized with a statue, was Steuben, who helped the Americans win the Revolution. We are told that he also was the originator of “OK” –“He  couldn’t speak English well, and this was his way of signing off ‘all correct’”. (Another famous son of Magdeburg, I learn, is the composer Georg Philipp Telemann).

Old and new in Magdeburg © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com
Old and new in Magdeburg © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com

That evening, as we sail to Berlin, our final port, we have a gala dinner, and it really is – cream of cauliflower soup; foie gras; veal; cheese in puffed pastry, and for dessert, dramatically served Baked Alaska flaming with Grand Marnier, accompanied by special wines selected by the chef. All the cuisine has been so flavorful, rich but not too rich, with gorgeous presentations.

The finale to the gala dinner onboard CroisiEurope’s MS Elbe Princesse: flaming baked Alaska © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com

We have asked for a tour of the kitchen, and they have complied – so we get to walk through. It is remarkably unbusy, unhectic, uncluttered. In the evening, we also are invited to tour the wheelhouse (I am told there is no auto pilot, which makes me think it is easier to “fly” to the international space station than to navigate the river because of the changing depth, hazards, currents.

The bridge on CroisiEurope’s MS Elbe Princesse © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com

We arrive in Berlin, overnighting at a dock in a neighborhood park.

CroisiEurope, 800-768-7232, [email protected], www.CroisiEuropeRiverCruises.com

See also:

CroisiEurope Brings True Value, Quality to River Cruising Across the Globe

CroisiEurope’s Elbe Princess Prague-Berlin Rivercruise: Konigstein Fortress: Dramatic and Impregnable

CroisiEurope’s Elbe Princess Prague-Berlin Rivercruise: Dresden Rises Like a Phoenix; Meissen Preserves World Famous Brand

River Cruising on CroisiEurope’s Elbe Princesse, Prague-Berlin: Martin Luther, The Reformation and Wittenberg

CroisiEurope’s Elbe Princesse Prague-Berlin Rivercruise: Magdeburg, Long History, Surprising Heritage

CroisiEurope’s Elbe Princesse Rivercruise: Berlin, a Cultural Capital Again

___________________

© 2022 Travel Features Syndicate, a division of Workstyles, Inc. All rights reserved. Visit goingplacesfarandnear.com, www.huffingtonpost.com/author/karen-rubin, and travelwritersmagazine.com/TravelFeaturesSyndicate/. Blogging at goingplacesnearandfar.wordpress.com and moralcompasstravel.info. Visit instagram.com/going_places_far_and_near and instagram.com/bigbackpacktraveler/ Send comments or questions to [email protected]. Tweet @TravelFeatures. ‘Like’ us at facebook.com/NewsPhotoFeatures

CroisiEurope’s Elbe Princess Prague-Berlin Rivercruise: Dresden Rises Like a Phoenix; Meissen Preserves World Famous Brand

Meissen at night © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com

By Karen Rubin, Travel Features Syndicate, goingplacesfarandnear.com

We sail on to Dresden, where CroisiEurope’s MS Elbe Princess is supposed to dock for the night, and we are invited to take a 9 pm walk through Dresden’s historic city center. We are all excited and standing around, when we just sail passed. It seems that the docking spot which is reserved for us was occupied by another ship, and because it is Sunday night, there is nobody to complain to or address the issue. So we sail on to Meissen while the ship’s manager scrambles to arrange for a bus to take us back to Dresden for the morning’s excursion.

Our excursion the next morning is first by bus for an overview and then walking, and between the two, we get to see – from the outside at least – Dresden’s highlights and get a sense of its history, but this is certainly a city that deserves more time and a more immersive experience.

Dresden, one of Europe’s most beautiful cities © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com

Most of Dresden’s city center was destroyed in World War II, but the “suburbs” survived the so-called “moral bombing” in which 25,000 out of a population of 650,000 died. But you would hardly realize it – except that our guide, Alexandr Klein, pulls out black-and-white photos of the destruction so we can compare.

It’s fairly amazing, then, that the bombing could not stamp out Dresden’s extraordinarily rich history, heritage and culture, which in so many instances, have risen literally from ashes. They have restored and reconstructed the architecture, saving the facades where possible and in many cases reusing the stones;.

It was here, August 26-27, 1813 at the Battle of Dresden that Napoleon had his last big victory in Germany. It was fought on the outskirts of the Saxon capital of Dresden, between Napoleon’s 120,000 troops and 170,000 Austrians, Prussians, and Russians under Prince Karl Philipp Schwarzenberg. Alas, victory was short lived – a week later, Napoleon was defeated at Leipzig.

Dresden is a green city with more trees than people © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com

Dresden is a “green city’ boasting more trees (600,000) than humans (550,0000). We drive through an enormous park – like Central Park – where among the sites is the intriguingly named German Hygiene Museum, Europe’s only science museum to focus on the human being and body within the context of the environment and society, culture and science.

We drive by the New Synagogue, built in 2002 to replace the 1840 synagogue designed by the revered architect Gottfried Semper, that was destroyed on Kristalnacht, Nov. 9-10, 1938. At its peak, Dresden had 5000 Jews; today there are 700. “Most had escaped before World War II, so we have Jewish life again.” The New Synagogue has Star of David finial from the old synagogue. “A fireman who put out the fire in 1938 saved it, then gave it to survivors after the war.”

Dresden’s New Synagogue © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com
 

We pass Fletcher street. “The Soviets arrived May 8 1945. 200 soldiers had died in combat; Hitler had already committed suicide. Fletcher took white flag to surrender to the Soviets. The SS shot him in the back. He was martyred,” Klein relates.

Dresden also shows its history under Soviet occupation. There is probably no sight that better encapsulates the Soviet era than “The Red Flag” mural and wall fresco, “Our Socialist Life” on the exterior of the Dresden Kulturpalast. It was the pride of GDR architecture when it opened in 1969 as a “House of Socialist Culture”. Today it is the home of the Dresden Philharmonic.

“Our Socialist Life” mural is a reminder of East Germany’s Soviet era and no doubt figures into Dresden’s support for Ukraine. Today the Kulturpalast is the home of the Dresden Philharmonic © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com

“The revolution against Soviet rule started in Dresden and Leipzig churches in 1989. It was the only successful revolution in German history. Then the Berlin Wall came down a year later.”

Dresden’s experience under Soviet rule no doubt figures into its support today for Ukraine against Russia’s invasion © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com
A Ukraine aide center in Dresden © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com

We get off the bus and start a delightful walking tour through this beautiful city.

We start at Frauenkirche, the Church of Our Lady. Completed in 1743, the Baroque church was considered one of the most beautiful in Europe. After it was destroyed by Allied bombing in 1945, the ruins were catalogued and stored for its reconstruction. 4,000 of the original stones were used in the rebuilding, which began after Germany’s reunification, in 1990 and reopened in 2005. Great Britain, which was responsible for the bomb that had caused so much of the devastation, sent a gold cross to place at the top.

Dresden, one of Europe’s most beautiful cities © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com

We see the famous Fürstenzug – the Procession of Princes – a 102-meter-long portrait of the Dukes, Electors, and Kings of the house of Wettin, together with leading German figures from the arts and sciences. Commissioned in 1870, it consists of 25,000 Meissen Porcelain tiles.

Dresden’s famous Fürstenzug – the Procession of Princes – consists of 25,000 Meissen porcelain tiles © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com

Our guide, Alexandr Klein, points out Taschenberg Palace, built in the 18th century by the Saxon King, Augustus the Strong for his mistress. (Augustus “had ambitions to be like Henry VII”; a mistress was an actual official position, he tells us). There is a bridge, reminiscent of the Bridge of Sighs in Venice, connecting it to the Royal Palace. The original building burned down and was faithfully restored in 1995 and transformed into the luxurious Hotel Taschenbergpalais Kempinski Dresden, owned by the Thai royal family (rooms can cost as much as 10,000E/night). A member of Historic Hotels Worldwide since 2017, it is within the historic city center, steps away from the most renowned sights, such as Semper Opera House, Royal Palace, Zwinger, and the Frauenkirche. (Famous past guests of the Taschenbergpalais include Prince Albert II of Monaco, designer Karl Lagerfeld, and President Jacques Chirac of France, https://www.historichotels.org/hotels-resorts/hotel-taschenbergpalais-kempinski-dresden)

A bridge connects the Royal Palace to the Taschenberg Palace © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com

We walk along a Tuscan-style arcade with 22 rounded arches leading to the Court Stables.

One of my favorite parts of this delightful walking tour is strolling along Brühl’s Terrace (Brühlsche Terrasse), also known as the “Balcony of Europe.” Our guide explains that by the 19th C, Dresden already popular for European tourists. This half-mile long promenade is built on the old city ramparts and was laid out in 1738 as a private garden; it was opened to the public in 1814.

Brühl’s Terrace is also known as the “Balcony of Europe,” a testament Dresden’s popularity with European tourists in the 19th century © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com

Klein points to where novelist Kurt Vonnegut, who fought with Americans in World War II, was held as a POW in the slaughterhouse district. He wrote “Slaughterhouse 5,” a science-fiction infused anti-war novel, based on his experience.

Klein leads us to the Zwinger, a magnificent early 18th-century palace and a stunning example of Baroque architecture. Inside is The Old Masters Picture Gallery with 750 paintings from the 15th to 18th centuries, among them Italian Renaissance and Baroque masterpieces by Raphael, Titian, Correggio, and Tintoretto, and Dutch and Flemish paintings by Rembrandt, Rubens, Van Dyck, and Vermeer.

Semper’s Opera House was reconstructed after World War II © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com

Also worth visiting (we don’t have time) is the Royal Palace, which houses some of Dresden’s most important museums, including the Green Vault and the Numismatic Collection. You can also visit the State Apartment, a suite of rooms that have been faithfully restored to their original condition.

Outside the Zwinger, our guide Alexandr Klein compares to a photo of the scene after being bombed in World War II © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com

The tour gives us an overview, but I wish we had the afternoon to explore on our own.

(You can get a Dresden museum card with gives two days and free admission to the city’s must see museums and exhibitions: Old Masters Picture Gallery with Sculpture Collection until 1800; Royal Cabinet of Mathematical and Physical Instruments; Collection of Prints, Drawings and Photographs, Porcelain Collection; The Royal State Apartments of August the Strong and the Porcelain Cabinet, Coin Cabinet; New Green Vault; Renaissance Wing; Giant´s Hall of the Armoury; Turkish Chamber; Albertinum with Art from the Romantic Period to the Present Day; Lipsiusbau Exhibition Hall; Museum of Saxon Folk Art and Puppet Theatre Collection; Special Exhibitions in the Japanese Palace; Joseph Hegenbarth Archive; Hausmannsturm, 22E pp).

The market square in Dresden © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com
Dresden has managed to reclaim its history, culture and heritage © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com

Meissen: World Famous for Porcelain

We are returned to the ship for lunch, and in the afternoon have a walking tour of Meissen.

Meissen’s Cathedral © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com

We ride an elevator to the hill top, and visit the Cathedral, a three-nave Gothic hall church built between 1260 and 1410 and preserved in its near-original medieval state. We buy a ticket to see inside where there are paintings by the renowned Lucas Cranach., and stained glass windows from the 13th century.

Meissen © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com

We walk around Albrechsburg, a palace built between 1471 and 1500 by Duke Albrecht of Saxony that dominates the city and the beautiful historic square.

Meissen’s Town Square © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com

After our brief walking tour with our guide, Brigetta, we are taken by bus to the Meissen “manufactory,” where you go room by room to see demonstrations of the remarkable artistry and craftsmanship that goes into making these porcelain treasures.

Seeing the Meissen Porcelain process as it has been for 300 years © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com

It is remarkable to realize that they have been doing this very same thing for over 300 years, the oldest porcelain manufactory in Europe, founded in 1710 by King Augustus the Strong, who put together a team of physicists, alchemists and metallurgists to come up with the new technology. There’s also a museum with some 2,000 Meissen items.

Seeing the Meissen Porcelain process as it has been for 300 years © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com

Back on the ship, we sail from Meissen through the late afternoon and overnight to Wittenberg.

We are always a stone’s throw from shore. We sail by people’s backyards and front yards, close enough to exchange greetings. Bicyclists keep pace and even go faster than boat, as they ride along a path beside the water. I see one man on horseback as the sun goes down. The scenery is beautiful, and the cruise so peaceful.

Departing Meissen in the late afternoon © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com
 Enjoying the scenery along the Prague-Berlin rivercruise on CroisiEurope’s MS Elbe Princesse © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com
 Enjoying the scenery along the Prague-Berlin rivercruise on CroisiEurope’s MS Elbe Princesse enroute to Wittenberg © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com
 
Enjoying the scenery along the Prague-Berlin rivercruise on CroisiEurope’s MS Elbe Princesse enroute to Wittenberg © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com

Dinner this evening is spectacular, beginning with an olive paste on toast, salmon with cheese, filet mignon, goat cheese with salad, raspberry/cream pie.

We cruise overnight to Wittenberg.

Contact CroisiEurope, 800-768-7232, [email protected], www.CroisiEuropeRiverCruises.com

See also:

CroisiEurope Brings True Value, Quality to River Cruising Across the Globe

CroisiEurope’s Elbe Princess Prague-Berlin Rivercruise: Konigstein Fortress: Dramatic and Impregnable

CroisiEurope’s Elbe Princess Prague-Berlin Rivercruise: Dresden Rises Like a Phoenix; Meissen Preserves World Famous Brand

River Cruising on CroisiEurope’s Elbe Princesse, Prague-Berlin: Martin Luther, The Reformation and Wittenberg

CroisiEurope’s Elbe Princesse Prague-Berlin Rivercruise: Magdeburg, Long History, Surprising Heritage

CroisiEurope’s Elbe Princesse Rivercruise: Berlin, a Cultural Capital Again

___________________

© 2022 Travel Features Syndicate, a division of Workstyles, Inc. All rights reserved. Visit goingplacesfarandnear.com, www.huffingtonpost.com/author/karen-rubin, and travelwritersmagazine.com/TravelFeaturesSyndicate/. Blogging at goingplacesnearandfar.wordpress.com and moralcompasstravel.info. Visit instagram.com/going_places_far_and_near and instagram.com/bigbackpacktraveler/ Send comments or questions to [email protected]. Tweet @TravelFeatures. ‘Like’ us at facebook.com/NewsPhotoFeatures

CroisiEurope’s Elbe Princess Prague-Berlin Rivercruise: Konigstein Fortress: Dramatic and Impregnable

Konigstein Fortress as seen from CroisiEurope’s MS Elbe Princess © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com

By Karen Rubin, Travel Features Syndicate, goingplacesfarandnear.com

We get our first glimpse of Konigstein Fortress, perched on a 24-acre rock plateau high on a hilltop, 240 meters above the river, as our ship, CroisiEurope’s MS Elbe Princess, sails past. It is formidable. Known as the “Saxon Bastille,” it is Germany’s largest fortifications and one of the largest hilltop fortifications in Europe. It was never conquered and never invaded (though our guide tells the story of a local teenager who managed to “invade” the fortress by scaling the walls; he was initially taken into custody but released after they could not find a law to charge him with breaking, and he became a local hero).

Konigstein Fortress © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com

The fortress is a complex of more than 50 buildings, some more than 400 years old, including a dramatic medieval castle, with ramparts that run 1,800 meters and walls up to 42 meters high, which for centuries was used as a state prison (political prison). The fortress has been an open-air, military history museum since May 29, 1955, and is now one of Saxony’s foremost tourist attractions, visited by 700,000 a year. ((I keep thinking it should have been used in a James Bond movie).

Konigstein Fortress was built to be impregnable and self-sustainable. Built as a refuge, it was mostly used as a state prison and now a museum © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com

100 million years ago, this place would have been at the bottom of the ocean, our guide, Gerold Jahn, tells us. Now, because it is the highest perch, there are lightening conductors everywhere (100 years ago, three tourists were killed by a lightening strike) and there is a safety talk and posters.He takes us to his favorite views of the Elbe Valley and villages well below.

Konigstein Fortress is perched on a 24-acre rock plateau high on a hilltop, 240 meters above the Elbe River © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com

The fortress is a complex of more than 50 buildings, some more than 400 years old, including a dramatic medieval castle, with ramparts that run 1,800 meters and walls up to 42 meters high, which for centuries was used as a state prison (political prison), and is now one of Saxony’s foremost tourist attractions, visited by 700,000 a year. ((I keep thinking it should have been used in a James Bond movie).

View from Konigstein Fortress © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com

Originally, there was a monastery here, which was closed after Luther’s Reformation. It took 40 years to build the fortress, beginning 1580 until 1620, just after the start of the Thirty Years War (half of all Saxony people died in that war). The fortress was built to be invincible, though in fact, it was not built for defense, but as a refuge for the townspeople, scientists, and government.

Konigstein Fortress was built to be impregnable and self-sustainable. Built as a refuge, it was mostly used as a state prison and now a museum © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com

It was designed as a refuge (Dresden is 28 km away) to accommodate as many as 4000 people (the fewest number of full time residents is 40, the present number of permanent occupants). Peak occupation was during the Seven Years War, in 1756.

It’s fascinating to see the engineering and architecture that went into Konigstein Fortress. Known as the “Saxon Bastille,” it is Germany’s largest fortifications and one of the largest hilltop fortifications in Europe © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com

What I find most fascinating is how they solved all the problems – water, food and sanitation – to make this place totally self-sufficient (not just impenetrable). The secret to its steady supply of water is a 152.5 meter deep well, which is the deepest in Saxony and second deepest well in Europe – and the key to how this fortress was made to withstand any kind of siege. We get to see how it was built by local miners over a four-year period. The well is fed by rain that filters through the soil over a period of 6 to 7 months (they calculated) and naturally refills and could not be poisoned by an enemy. They devised a system to a 130-liter barrel into the well to collect the water.

Also, every household had a patch of land and was expected to cultivate their own food. The fort has a self-sufficient town with its own butcher, bakery, brewery, hospital and treasury. Even today, young children attend school at the fortress and older ones are picked up by bus.

The fortress was used to protect the Saxon state reserves and secret archives during times of war. In 1756 and 1813 and during World War II, Dresden’s art treasures were also stored at the Königstein.

Konigstein Fortress was built to be impregnable and self-sustainable. Built as a refuge, it was mostly used as a state prison and now a museum © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com

Its main function since the 17th century was as a prison. Some of the more notable prisoners incarcerated at Königstein (likely after secret trial) include: the Crypto-Calvinists, including Caspar Peucer (1574–86) and Nikolaus Krell (1591–1601), chancellor of the Electorate of Saxony; Johann Friedrich Böttger (1706–1707), co-discoverer with Tschirnhaus of European porcelain; Count Karl Heinrich von Hoym (1734–1736), cabinet minister of the Electorate of Saxony; committed suicide in his cell; Mikhail Bakunin (1849–1850), Russian anarchist and revolutionary; Thomas Theodor Heine (1899), caricaturist and artist and Frank Wedekind (1899–1900), writer and dramatist.

The fortress was never bombed during World War II, even though nearby Dresden was famously destroyed, That is because it was known not to be a military base but rather, American, French and Polish POWs (mainly officers) were kept here. “They were kept in very humane conditions – one day a week they could leave to hike,” Gerold tells us.

The fortress was considered impregnable – “The only way prisoners left was when their dead bodies were thrown over the wall” – but there is a famous legend of the daring escape of a French general Henri Giraud, who was kept here 1940-1942.

Konigstein Fortress is a complex of more than 50 buildings, some more than 400 years old, including a dramatic medieval castle, with ramparts that run 1,800 meters and walls up to 42 meters high © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com

“We never knew how it happened. One theory was that he was smuggled little pieces of rope that he joined together until he had 45 meters, repelled down, and that a special agent met him at the bottom with clothes, false passport and he escaped to Switzerland. Another theory is that he had inside help and the Germans wanted him to escape because Giraud was an enemy of DeGaulle and if was free, there would dissention. The French claim it was Resistance who helped him. But after only two years, he died in airplane crash in North Africa.” (I’m thinking, murder???? What a film!)

In May 1945, the 20 soldiers (more like police) here waved a white flag to welcome the Russians. “They came with art experts. The Soviets confiscated the art, but when Stalin died in 1953 and Khruschev wanted to have détente, they and gave back the art.”

“It is a masterpiece of engineering, of architecture,” Gerold, who has a background in civil engineering, tells us.

I am grateful that we have about 40 minutes to explore on our own, and I go into a marvelous exhibit about the history of this place and this area housed within the castle (a treat to see inside).

We walk down from castle the through the four gates (coming up, we used the modern elevator). Really wonderful.

Back on the ship, we sail on to Dresden.

Scenic views as we sail on CroisiEurope’s MS Elbe Princesse to Dresden © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com
The Bastei Rocks formation in the Elbe Sandstone Mountains of Germany © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com
We get a view of Bastei Bridge from the Elbe Princess as we cruise on the Elbe River to Dresden © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com
Scenic views as we sail on CroisiEurope’s MS Elbe Princesse to Dresden © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com
Scenic views as we sail on CroisiEurope’s MS Elbe Princesse to Dresden © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com
Dresden © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com

Contact CroisiEurope, 800-768-7232, [email protected], www.CroisiEuropeRiverCruises.com

See also:

CroisiEurope Brings True Value, Quality to River Cruising Across the Globe

CroisiEurope’s Elbe Princess Prague-Berlin Rivercruise: Konigstein Fortress: Dramatic and Impregnable

CroisiEurope’s Elbe Princess Prague-Berlin Rivercruise: Dresden Rises Like a Phoenix; Meissen Preserves World Famous Brand

River Cruising on CroisiEurope’s Elbe Princesse, Prague-Berlin: Martin Luther, The Reformation and Wittenberg

CroisiEurope’s Elbe Princesse Prague-Berlin Rivercruise: Magdeburg, Long History, Surprising Heritage

CroisiEurope’s Elbe Princesse Rivercruise: Berlin, a Cultural Capital Again

___________________
© 2022 Travel Features Syndicate, a division of Workstyles, Inc. All rights reserved. Visit goingplacesfarandnear.com, www.huffingtonpost.com/author/karen-rubin, and travelwritersmagazine.com/TravelFeaturesSyndicate/. Blogging at goingplacesnearandfar.wordpress.com and moralcompasstravel.info. Visit instagram.com/going_places_far_and_near and instagram.com/bigbackpacktraveler/ Send comments or questions to [email protected]. Tweet @TravelFeatures. ‘Like’ us at facebook.com/NewsPhotoFeatures